Vehicle door, in particular for motor vehicles

ABSTRACT

A vehicle door, in particular for motor vehicles, having a loadbearing cross-member linking the door hinges and the door lock, to which frames, guides and actuator devices for windows, as well as armrests, handles and actuating devices for the door lock, are attached. The cross-member is attached to flat sheet-metal or synthetic material components forming the internal and external panels of the door.

United States Patent 1 Hellriegel et al.

[ 1 VEHICLE DOOR, IN PARTICULAR FOR MOTOR VEHICLES [75] Inventors: EmundHellriegel, Cologne; Dieter Pfadenhauer, Pulheim, both of Germany [73]Assignee: Ford Motor Company, Dearborn,

Mich.

221 Filed: Mar. 13, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 234,228

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 14, 1971 Germany P 21 27724.7

[ 52] US. Cl 296/146, 49/503, 293/63 [51] Int. Cl B60j 5/04 [58] Fieldof Search. 296/146, 153; 293/63; 49/502,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,005,198 Morrison 296/146 X[451 Feb. 12, 1974 Peras 49/502 Stepanek et al. 296/153 FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 725,638 9/ I 942 Germany Primary ExaminerDavid SchonbergAssistant Examiner-Leslie .1 Paperner Attorney, Agent, or FirmKeith L.Zerschling; John .1. Roethel [57] ABSTRACT A vehicle door, in particularfor motor vehicles, having a load-bearing cross-member linking the doorhinges and the door lock, to which frames, guides and actuator devicesfor windows, as well as armrests, handles and actuating devices for thedoor lock, are attached. The cross-member is attached to flat sheetmetalor synthetic material components forming the internal and externalpanels of the door.

14 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 VEHICLE DOOR, IN PARTICULAR FOR MOTORVEHICLES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Vehicle doors of the kindintroductorily described are already known from German patent documentsNos. 1 455 812 and l 480 089 as laid open for inspection. Theload-bearing cross-members linking door hinges and door lock, here takethe form of X-shaped or Y-shaped flat sheet-metal pressings of flataluminum castings. These known cross-members were fully capable ofwithstanding the stresses and strains produced by the hinge and lockloadings during operation of the vehicle door.

The ever-increasing demands nowadays made upon the passive security of amotor vehicle, mean, as far as a modern vehicle door is concerned, thatin the event of a sideways collision with another vehicle, the passengerspace has a degree of lack of protection which prevents the dangerouspenetration of parts of the vehicle body.

In conventional vehicle doors, it is already known to arrange betweenthe internal and external panels of the door, a horizontally disposedside protection member with a box section. These solutions to thelateral protection problem have the drawback that the space between theintemal and external panels of the door restricts the respective widthof any lateral protection member. Furthermore, the vertical double wallslocated in the neighborhood of the lateral protection member, thesewalls being formed by the internal panel of the door and the parallelinside surface of the protection member itself, and by the externalpanel of the door and the parallel outside surface of the protectionmember, do not substantially improve the lateral stiffness in proportionto the increased weight resulting from such construction.

It is the object of the invention to create a modern vehicle door whichmatches the stringent requirements in terms of effective lateralprotection of the passsenger space. The requisite lateral stiffness,coupled with the lowest possible installed weight, is achieved by alarge horizontal width on the part of the protection member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention, the objectiveis achieved in that a horizontally disposed lateral protection membercarrying a door hinge at one end and a door lock at the other, has a boxcross-section of substantial horizontal width, one side of whichdirectly forms part of the external panel of the door, and the otherside of which directly forms part of the internal panel of the door,which internal panel has the recessed finger grips, armrests, airdistribution devices and the like molded in it, the member furthermorecarrying upper and lower frame sections, constituted by profiled bars.

The upper frame section can in this context carry a transparent pane ofglass or synthetic material, preferably with a communicating window,while the lower frame section will either likewise take a transparentpane or an opaque panel.

That side of the lateral protection member which forms the internalpanel of the door in which the finger grips, armrests and the like aremolded is here provided with a foam liner the shaped surface of whichdirectly constitutes the internal trim of the door.

The lateral protection member can here be constituted by two sheet-metalpressings of substantially U- shaped cross-section, the cavity of themember being filled with energy-absorbing material.

The side protection member, however, can equally well be constituted byan external extruded aluminum profiled strip and an internal sheet-metalpressing of U-shaped cross-section. The aluminum profiled strip can inthis context form part of the window frame.

The lateral protection member can also, however, be constituted by asingle aluminum casting or die casting. The lateral protection membercan have the window frame formed in situ with it if it is made of analuminum plastic.

The foam liner can in this context contain passages, discharge nozzlesand the like, associated with the air distribution system of the motorvehicle.

The foam lining can furthermore contain sealing profiles for the framesections carried by the lateral projection member.

Due to the arrangement and design of the lateral protection member inaccordance with the invention, the maximum width of the vehicle door,inclusive of the wide armrests, can be fully exploited, with theexception of the width of an effective synthetic foamed liner, for thehorizontal width of the lateral protection member. The simultaneousexploitation of the vertical sides of the member as parts of theinternal and external panels of the door enables a considerable savingin weight and cost to be achieved.

It will readily be appreciated that in modern, lowheight motor cars,virtually a third of the external and internal panels of the door can beconstituted by the lateral protection member in accordance with theinvention. The design of the vehicle door in accordance with theinvention as a door in which the windows cannot be lowered, constitutesthe most economic solution for future vehicle models in view of thecontinuing tendency towards lower overall vehicle heights, increasingair pollution and the consequent necessity to install fullair-conditioning with filtering, heating and cooling arrangements.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be explained in moredetail making reference to an example illustrated in the attacheddrawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a tilted view of a vehicle door in accordance withthe invention, seen from the passenger space.

FIG. 2 illustrates a vertical section on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a section similar to FIG. 2, disclosing a furtherembodiment of the lateral protection member.

FIG. 4 illustrates a section similar to FIG. 2, disclosing a furtherembodiment of the lateral protection member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The vehicle door illustrated inFIG. 1 consists essentially of the horizontally disposed lateralprotection member 11 which has a box cross-section of large horizontalwidth. The lateral protection member 11 has upper and lower framesections 12 and 13 which are constituted by profiled bars.

The lateral protection member 11 is articulated at one end through asingle wide door hinge 14 to the vehicle bodywork and is fitted with alatch mechanism 15 at its other end.

With one of its vertical sides, the member 11 directly forms a part A ofthe external door panel and with its other vertical side it directlyforms a part B of the internal door panel which has the finger grips 16,armrests 17, air distribution outlets 18 and the like molded in situ init.

The upper frame section 12 here accommodates a transparent pane 19 ofglass or synthetic material, preferably containing a communicatingwindow 21. The bottom frame section 13 can either be fitted with atransparent pane 22 in the same way, or with an opaque panel. I

The design of the vehicle door in accordance with the invention can mostsimply be described making reference to the vertical sections of FIGS. 2to 4.

In FIG. 2, an embodiment of the lateral protection member 11 inaccordance with the invention has been illustrated, showing it toconsist of two sheet-metal stampings 23 and 24 of substantially U-shapedcrosssection in each case, the cavity of the member possibly beingfilled with energy-absorbing material 25. The internal stamping 23 whichforms part of the internal door panel, is provided with a foamedsynthetic material liner 26 whose shaped surface directly constitutesthe internal trim of the door. The foamed liner 26 embraces the entireinternal surface of the lateral protection member 11 and definespassages, discharge nozzles and the like belonging to the airdistribution system 18, as well as sealing profiles 27 for the upper andlower frame sections 28 and 29 carried by the member 1.

In FIG. 3, a further embodiment of the lateral protection member inaccordance with the invention is illustrated, in which it consists of anexternal extruded aluminum profiled strip 30 and an internal U-sectionmetal stamping 23. The extruded aluminum profiled strip 30 is providedhere with horizontal ribs 31 whose thickness and width are such that themember 11' has the requisite section modulus. The aluminum profiledstrip 30 can here form part of the window frames 28' and 29.

In FIG. 4, a further embodiment of the lateral protection member inaccordance with the invention has been illustrated, this time consistingof a single gravity-cast or die-cast component 32 in aluminum, thewindow frames 28" and 29" being formed integrally with it.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 3 and 4, the other details of the lateralprotection member arrangement have been marked by the same referencesused in FIGS. 1 and 2, the references in FIG. 3 having been given an andthe references in FIG. 4 a

In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the external surface of the profiled strip30 can be employed directly to form part of the decoration of thevehicle side.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the lateral protection member 11 can beproduced in the form of a component in which all the fixing positionsand locations for hinges, locks, operating levers and linkages etc., areprovided.

From' the foregoing, it will be apparent that the concentration of thematerial in lateral protection members which form part and parcel of theinternal and external panels of the door, as proposed in accordance withthe invention, achieves a door design for modern motor cars, which isspace-saving, weight-saving and cost-saving.

We claim:

1. A vehicle door, in particular for motor vehicles, with a load-bearingcross-member linking the door hinges and the door lock, to which frames,guides and actuator devices for windows, as well as armrests, handlesand actuating devices for the latch mechanism are attached,

the cross-member being attached to flat components forming the internaland external panels of the door,

characterized in that the cross-member comprises a horizontally disposedlateral protection member carrying a door hinge at one end and a doorlock at the other,

the cross-member having a box cross-section of substantial horizontalwidth the external side of which directly forms part of the externalpanel of the door and the internal side of which directly forms part ofthe internal panel of the door,

the panel having recessed finger grips, armrests, and

air'conditioning conduits molded in it,

and the cross-member furthermore carrying upper and lower frame sectionsconstituted by profiled means. 2. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 1,characterized in that the internal side of the lateral protectionmember, which forms the internal panel of the door and contains therecessed finger grips, and armrests molded in it, is provided with afoamed synthetic material liner whose shaped surface directlyconstitutes the internal trim of the door. 3. A vehicle door as claimedin claim 2, characterized in that the lateral protection member isformed by two substantially U-section sheetmetal stampings forming acavity therebetween,

the cavity within the protection member being filled withenergy-absorbing material.

4. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 2,

characterized in that the lateral protection member is constituted by anexternal profiled strip of extruded aluminum and an internal U-sectionmetal stamping,

the profiled aluminum strip forming part of the window frame.

5. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 2,

characterized in that the lateral protection member consists of a singlecast aluminum component with the window frames formed integrally withit.

6. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 2,

characterized in that the energy absorbing liner defines passages, anddischarge nozzles associated with an air distribution system.

7. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 2,

characterized in that the energy absorbing liner forms sealing profilesfor the frame sections carried by the lateral protection member.

8. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 1,

characterized in that the upper frame section accommodates a transparentpanel,

the bottom frame section likewise containing a panel.

9. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 8,

characterized in that the internal side of the lateral protection memberwhich forms the internal panel of the door and contains the recessedfinger grips, and armrests molded in it, is provided with a foamedsynthetic material liner whose shaped surface directly constitutes theinternal trim of the door.

10. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 9,

characterized in that the lateral protection member is constituted by anexternal profiled strip of extruded aluminum and an internal U-sectionmetal stamping,

the profiled aluminum strip forming part of the window frame. 11. Avehicle door as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the lateralprotection member consists of a single cast aluminum component withcarried by the lateral protection member.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE v CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,791,693 I Dated February 12, 197 .1 I

Inventor(s) Edmund Hellr'iegel and Dieter Pfadenhaue'r' It is certifiedthat error appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

[75] Emund Hellriegel should read Edmund Hellriegel Signed and sealedthis 7 2nd day of July 1974' (SEAL) Attes't:

EDWARD M. FLETCHER,JR. C.MARSHALL DANN Attestlng Officer Commissioner ofPatents FORM PO-105O (10-69) USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 e u.s. GOVERNMENTPRINTING OFFICE: I969 o-3es-334

1. A vehicle door, in particular for motor vehicles, with a load-bearingcross-member linking the door hinges and the door lock, to which frames,guides and actuator devices for windows, as well as armrests, handlesand actuating devices for the latch mechanism are attached, thecross-member being attached to flat components forming the internal andexternal panels of the door, characterized in that the cross-membercomprises a horizontally disposed lateral protection member carrying adoor hinge at one end and a door lock at the other, the cross-memberhaving a box cross-section of substantial horizontal width the externalside of which directly forms part of the external panel of the door andthe internal side of which directly forms part of the internal panel ofthe door, the panel having recessed finger grips, armrests, andairconditioning conduits molded in it, and the cross-member furthermorecarrying upper and lower frame sections constituted by profiled means.2. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that theinternal side of the lateral protection member, which forms the internalpanel of the door and contains the recessed finger grips, and armrestsmolded in it, is provided with a foamed synthetic material liner whoseshaped surface directly constitutes the internal trim of the door.
 3. Avehicle door as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the lateralprotection member is formed by two substantially U-section sheet-metalstampings forming a cavity therebetween, the cavity within theprotection member being filled with energy-absorbing material.
 4. Avehicle door as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the lateralprotection member is constituted by an external profiled strip ofextruded aluminum and an internal U-section metal stamping, the profiledaluminum strip forming part of the window frame.
 5. A vehicle door asclaimed in claim 2, characterized in that the lateral protection memberconsists of a single cast aluminum component with the window framesformed integrally with it.
 6. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 2,characterized in that the energy absorbing liner defines passages, anddischarge nozzles associated with an air distribution system.
 7. Avehicle door as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the energyabsorbing liner forms sealing profiles for the frame sections carried bythe lateral protection member.
 8. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 1,characterized in that the upper frame section accommodates a transparentpanel, the bottom frame section likewise containing a panel.
 9. Avehicle door as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the internalside of the lateral protection member which forms the internal panel ofthe door and contains the recessed finger grips, and armrests molded init, is provided with a foamed synthetic material liner whose shapedsurface directly constitutes the internal trim of the door.
 10. Avehicle door as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the lateralprotection member is constituted by an external profiled strip ofextruded aluminum and an internal U-section metal stamping, the profiledaluminum strip forming part of the window frame.
 11. A vehicle door asclaimed in claim 9, characterized in that the lateral protection memberconsists of a single cast aluminum component with the window framesformed integrally with it.
 12. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 9,characterized in that the lateral protection member is formed of twosubstantially U-section sheet-metal stampings forming a cavitytherebetween, the cavity within the protection member being filled withenergy-absorbing material.
 13. A vehicle door as claimed in claim 12,characterized in that the foamed liner defines passages, and dischargenozzles associated with an air distribution system.
 14. A vehicle dooras claimed in claim 13, characterized in that the energy absorbingfoamed liner forms sealing profiles for the frame sections carried bythe lateral protection member.